Stupid, Stupid

Happy Easter to everyone!

We had a cold, windy, overcast Easter.

No kids.

No chocolate bunnies.

No Easter Egg hunt.

That's just not right.

We decided to have a carrot hunt.

Brett tossed carrots onto the slope in front of the barn.

Then we let the horses out.

They were more interested in the grass.

Can we pretend that the yellow dandelions are marshmallow chicks?

After the horses had finished the carrots grazing,

we put them back in the pasture.

Well, except for Winston.

I thought it would be fun to jump on him bareback.

No bridle, just a halter.

No helmet.

STUPID!

I'd never ridden Winston bareback before.

It was a bit blustery out.

I wasn't wearing a helmet.

STUPID!

No, I didn't come off.

But he wasn't at all sure about the sensation of me on his back.

He took a few steps forward;

he tried to get rid of the weirdness on his back;

he bucked a bit.

I was scared;

I didn't come off.

Thank goodness!

We walked over to Brett;

with my hand wound tightly in Winston's mane.

And I got off.

And shook.

So stupid.

Always, always wear a helmet.

August Uglies

August is always an ugly month in the garden.  The perennials start going brown, getting ready for the dormant season.  The annuals die.  My garden, which usually stays green the longest, took a hard hit.  We had some water pooling around the sprinkler valves and Kersey, being a lab and only 14 months old, couldn't help herself.  She played in the water and mud and, in the process, broke the wiring going from the valves to the automatic sprinkler controls.  And I didn't notice.  For quite a long time.  Maybe a week. 

This bay laurel was in a pot so it really suffered.  I transplanted it into the ground.  If it rebounds from my inflicted drought, the frost may kill it this winter.  Fingers crossed.

The strawberries look pretty sad too - and the few remaining beets.

 

I spent most of the morning cleaning it all up, pulling out the dead stuff, and making it neat and tidy.  Fortunately, my rhubarb came through just fine as did the tomatoes.  I haven't had any tomato hornworms this year -- I'm wondering if the little brown bats are eating them. 

I noticed a squirrel hole close to the tomato plants, hidden under some bricks and the pumpkin vines.  There was evidence of their thievery all around -- tomato remains.  I took a shovel full of dog poop and dumped it down the hole and then shoved dirt on top.  It hasn't reappeared. 

Brett is doing better today.  He has switched from Rx pain killers to ibuprofen.  I imagine he will be gimpy for awhile - he doesn't bounce too well at 62.  I don't think he'll be riding Flash bareback again.  He can sit a spinning spook in the saddle but he didn't grow up galloping the hills bareback like I did, so his seat just isn't as secure or confident.  

He did enjoy the lemon meringue pie.  I made the meringue by hand with a whisk.  My cookbook said you really should so you can whip it exactly right.  Yeah, sure thing.  My arm about fell off.  It was very pretty meringue but not worth the arm cramps.  Next time I'm using the mixer. 

Training Log: bareback

Tuesdays are bareback days.  I don't have time before work to do the whole groom, tack up, ice down, etc. routine.  So, after I finish with the barn chores I just throw a bridle on Jackson and head to the arena.  He's often dirty but I'm in my jeans and tennis shoes so I don't care. 

Why I love riding bareback:

• It reminds me of my youth.  I never rode with a saddle then -- just hopped on the back of the horse I borrowed and went off into the hills.  When I slide on Jackson's back, I immediately lose 30+ years.
• It's fast and easy.  No bareback pad, no leg wraps, no nothin'. 
• I can really feel the swing in his back with my seat bones.  If I keep my hips lose, my legs are flung around a bit at trot with the movement.  That's good!  It means my hips are lose and I'm not gripping. 
• I can't cheat on balance.  To stay centered and effective without gripping, I have to be balanced.  The minute I lose balance, I hang on the reins.  I only lost my balance once today for a nano-second.  :)
• It builds my core strength.  Abs on, back on, reaching for the sky through my torso... it's all good.
• Bonding.  I feel more at one with Jackson when I'm bareback.  I sit deeper, I can feel myself moving with him, we are one in a way we aren't under saddle. 

Today, there were a couple crows in the orchard eating the rotton apples that have fallen.  I watched them while we were warming up.  They would stab the apple with their beak and then fly onto a boulder to eat it.  The apples were bigger than their heads so it looked pretty funny.